The longest stone art gallery--- Dunhuang Mogao Caves

Dunhuang Mogao Caves	Dunhuang Mogao Caves

Dunhuang Mogao Caves, also known as "Thousand Buddha Grottoes", it's located at the rock side of the Singing Sand Mountain in Dunhuang city of Gansu Province,which is arguably the world's most extraordinary gallery of Buddhist art: a gallery whose magnificent mural paintings and stucco sculptures were not collected from distant sources but were created over a period of nearly a thousand years. Moreover, one particular cave contained a sealed library whose contents, consisting of written documents, silk paintings and woodblock prints, reflect contacts with every major Buddhist centre of both Central Asia and the Chinese empire.
According to historical records, the Mogao Caves were carved in 366 AD. There are 492 grottoes in existence with some 45,000 square meters of murals, and 415 painted clay figures. It's worthy of the name of art treasure house of the Chinese Nation.The Mogao Caves vary in sizes, with 37 being the smallest and 16 the largest covering each an area of 268 square meters. 96 caves are as high as 40 meters in 9 tiers extending from the foot to the top of the mountain. In spite of the erosion caused by wind and drifting sand for some thousand years, the murals still keep their bright colors and are clearly discernible. The painted clay figures and the murals in Mogao Caves came into being at the same time. The ensuing thousand years witnessed their recreation, perfection as well as absorption of the merits of western ancient arts from India, Greece, Iran etc on the national basis. It has become a brilliant pearl in the Chinese art treasure troves.